Meet the MEP Board

The Makana Edutourism Board sadly bid farewell to an invaluable member, Roger Domingo, former Director of GADRA Advice, who has been with the Edutourism initiative since its inception days. We wish Roger and his family all the best in their new hometown of George, where Roger is now the Director of the Southern Cape Land Committee (SCLC).

Current members of the MEP 2013 Advisory Board, in alphabetical order, are:

Geoffrey Antrobus is Professor Emeritus of Economics at Rhodes University. Geoff has served on the MEP Board for the past two years, initially as the representative for Rhodes University and more recently in his personal capacity. g.antrobus@ru.ac.za

Louisa Clayton has an arts and journalism background, and has been with the Grahamstown Foundation in various capacities since 1996. She now serves as its Executive Director and represents the Foundation on the MEP Board, as its chairperson. The Foundation is a non-profit, public benefit organisation that implements cultural development projects to enrich the educational and cultural life of the people of South Africa. Projects include the Scifest Africa, arts, drama and arts education projects, such as the SA Schools Festivals of English, De Beers English Olympiad, Eastern Cape Eisteddfod, Amaphiko Township Dance Project, Shakespeare Society of Southern Africa, as well as the MEP. louisa.clayton@foundation.org.za

Melinda McCann is a regional development planning, but her main focus is on social and economic research. She has been engaged with the MEP since its early feasibility study days in 2008, initially as a consulting project manager, and now serves on the Board in her personal capacity. purdey@isat.co.za

Thembinkosi Sindane hails from Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal. He has a National Diploma in Tourism Management from Natal Technikon (later incorporated into Durban University of Technology) and has worked in local government for nine years, dealing primarily with tourism development and promotion, SMME Development, Trade and Investment promotion. In addition to being an MEP Advisory Board member, Thembinkosi is a member of the Makana Tourism Executive and Management Committees and is also a member of the National LED Network. TembinkosiSindane@makana.gov.za

Susan Waugh, a Rhodes University Fine Arts graduate, has spent the last 23 year years in Johannesburg, Gauteng, working in various industries such as military aviation, tourism and industrial property development. She has travelled extensively and in 2010 was given the opportunity by the German Government to study Marketing and Management in Saarbrucken, Germany, for several months. Susan returned to Grahamstown early in 2012 as Makana Tourism Director, and as an MEP Board member she hopes to promote a close link between Edutourism and Tourism in the region. director@grahamstown.co.za

Alan Weyer, an honorary Board member and local champion of the Edutourism initiative from 2008, is born, bred and educated in the Eastern Cape. He has been the general manager of Kariega Game Reserve since 2010 after having founded the "Spirits of the Past" Tours on the region’s history of spectacular battles and courageous people. Alan is an award winning tour guide, renowned raconteur and comedian, and a former pineapple farmer. alan@kariega.co.za

Scifest Africa 2016 Poster Competition (1st July-28th August): Scifest Africa will celebrate 20 years of engaging with the public in 2016. You are invited to enter an original artwork what that explores the theme of TIME!